CIVIL servants at the department responsible for investigating Britain's bankruptcies have spent more than £30,000 in the past year being taught by consultants how to sit at their desks properly.

Hard-pressed taxpayers will be baffled that bosses believe this is the best way for their money to be spent.

Andy Silvester, TaxPayer's Alliance

Figures uncovered by Express.co.uk show the Government's Insolvency Service spent £30,792.38 on ergonomic and posture advice between January 2013 and February 2014 - at the rate of one session a day.

The money was paid to company Posturite, which in one month alone made £4,763.72 from the department - which is a branch of Vince Cable's Department for Business and Skills.

The spending was all charged to the Government's credit card, and it has been slammed by the TaxPayer's Alliance, and the group's campaign manager Andy Silvester said: "While civil servants might have learnt how to sit down properly, it’s less clear they’ve learnt anything about responsible spending.

"Hard-pressed taxpayers will be baffled that bosses believe this is the best way for their money to be spent. Those who so readily waste taxpayers’ money must be held accountable."

The costs of work place assessments can range from just under £80 to above £175 depending on the service provider used.

If the Government pays £80 per assessment, that equates to 385 assessments in 13 months - around one a day.

The Insolvency Service is part of Vince Cable's Department of Business [PA]

An assessment involves checking a work station is set up correctly, and also identifying if a worker needs specially designed equipment such as chairs, IT equipment and desks.

According to transparency data released by the Government, the majority of the payments were classed as 'Employee Related Costs', but bizarrely, £7,558.44 of the money was listed as "accommodation".

"Different clients use us in different ways, and it may be we are following up on occupational health referrals.

"One of things we would do is provide suitable chairs and explain the functions of them to make sure the individual gets the benefits of the chairs.

"It reduces absenteeism, which provides cost savings."

Despite the fact The Insolvency Service released the information itself as part of its monthly transparency report, a spokesman for the department said any further information - such as why some of the money was listed as 'accommodation' - could only be released through a Freedom of Information request.

These take up to 20 working days to process, meaning the department did not provide a comment on the £30,792 spend for this article.